At a workshop providing information to the press on enhancing the capacity to implement the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FETC) and Article 5.3 of FETC in Vietnam held on the morning of October 3, Dr. Nguyen Tuan Lam, representative of the World Health Organization in Vietnam, said that the tobacco industry is considered a "global vector of disease transmission" as tobacco has been proven to cause great impacts on health.
The tobacco industry has many "tricks" to hinder the proposal of new tobacco bans such as: secretly or openly bribing the policy and law making processes; exaggerating the economic role of the tobacco industry; distorting public opinion to create a good corporate image; setting up superficial groups to influence; finding ways to reduce the value of research evidence; seeking to threaten governments with trade lawsuits at the international level...
Accordingly, the tobacco industry uses funding activities and the name of science to polish its image and influence; sometimes with very disguised names such as "World Without Tobacco" to fund research on tobacco harm prevention but funded by tobacco companies themselves. They seek to loosen the control of new tobacco products; attack large organizations with objective viewpoints...
“Ministry of Health has responded very well and promptly to prevent the harmful effects of new tobacco products, determined to protect health and protect people,” said Dr. Nguyen Tuan Lam.
MSc. Dinh Thi Thu Thuy, Deputy Director of the Department of Legal Affairs - Ministry of Health, said that recently, some doctors in the health sector participated in a number of conferences that were financially supported by the tobacco industry. However, the doctors did not know that they had violated Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention.
Currently, the Ministry of Health is developing a number of policies, such as the revised excise tax and proposing a resolution on banning the production, trading, importation and advertising of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products. These are two important legal documents that clearly demonstrate the struggle for public health interests with group interests, corporate interests and the tobacco industry.
Regarding this issue, MSc. Dao The Son, Expert of the Global Public Health Organization Vital Strategies, expressed his views on the issue of policy “lobbying”. This is a practice that occurs in countries, especially companies with profit motives.
“To gain profits, these companies will come up with many ways to achieve their goals. However, for companies that sell products that are harmful to health and affect the entire population, we need to minimize this lobbying. We cannot let a small benefit of a group affect the health of the entire population.”
